Design, testing and Hydrodynamic analysis of a submerged point absorber.

In recent years the scientific community has expressed a considerable interest in marine energy in order to deal with the serious environmental problems of our planet. The main purpose of the research in the specific field is to obtain clean energy production systems at low cost and with good efficiency. In this thesis was designed a point absorber intended to be placed in the Mediterranean sea, which is less energetic than the oceans. In these conditions you could still realize an efficient WEC with the due measures and obtaining a good power cost ratio. Initially after the choice of the location of the point absorber a preliminary assessment of the energy production near the coast of the island of Pantelleria was made. Falnes studies were followed to design an optimal WEC. In addition, a Matlab Simulink model has been developed that simulates the behaviour of the point absorber in reality using the Cummin’s equation. A small scale (1:32) prototype has been built in the laboratory for experimental analysis. Different types of buoys have been designed using the same method and their behaviour has been assessed. Finally, the experimental and theoretical results were compared.